However, Dame Priti said: “We’ve seen the police being absent in some areas, and I think it’s right that the Government should be held to account.
“I think it was possibly either on Monday or Tuesday night, we saw scenes in Birmingham where an individual was being assaulted and attacked and effectively beaten up.
“We don’t know the facts as to what went on in Birmingham. I simply don’t know the operational decisions that were made around that time. I think it’s important that we ask those questions.”
Dame Priti’s comments were slammed by Neil Basu, the former head of UK counter-terrorism, who claimed her rhetoric was putting officers “at risk”.
Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, Mr Basu said: “That is a very divisive comment. I’ll echo what my friend Commissioner Mark Rowley said earlier on in the week – two-tier policing is absolute nonsense.
“If you look like me, if you happen to be black or Asian in this country, the idea that there’s some form of two-tier policing where if you’re white working class you get a raw deal from the police, it’s quite frankly a little bit laughable after 200 years of being over-policed and under-protected.
“But if you want to start putting that message out, you are putting every one of my former colleagues at risk.”
A spokesman for Dame Priti said: “Priti has always stood alongside our heroic police force. She is proud to have brought in new laws which double sentences for attacks on police officers and the Police Covenant to increase care and protection for our police officers.”
